Seal
by yawn-chan
Summary: Naruto is found collapsed in front of his apartment... I suck at summaries, but the story is better. Rating might be little high, but better safe than sorry. A new chapter was added and I deleted the previous chapter 4 note.
1. Chapter 1

Yes, I have kept up to date with the manga and anime, but this takes place before Sasuke left Konoha. I've never really written a FanFic before, so be nice please…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto only the plot of this story.

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><p><em>Thinking <em>

"Talking"

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><p>Seal<p>

_I never thought I would be this tired from simply walking through Konoha. My legs were starting to become numb and I could feel myself starting to tremble as I gulped in deep droughts of air. I braced myself against the railing along the walk-way outside of my apartment as my knees finally gave out and I sank to the ground. My head lolled from side to side as I tried to clear my clouding vision. The pounding in my head grew until my vision swam and my eyes slowly closed as my head fell to the ground_.

_The dobe missed the meeting this morning with Sakura and Kakashi. Why am I the one that has to go drag his sorry ass to the bridge?_

Sasuke shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he continued to make his way through the village. Children kept running past and bumping into him as he walked the crowded streets. Finally he had enough and took to the roofs so as to avoid all of the people.

_He better have a damn good excuse for missing or I'm going to kill him when I find him._

Sasuke kept jumping across buildings and soon he could see the top of Naruto's apartment complex. He grabbed the edge of the roof and swung down to the top landing of the complex and turned towards the last apartment before abruptly coming to a halt. Naruto was slumped on the ground in front of his apartment. Sasuke rushed over and knelt down beside him to check his pulse. Naruto was sweating profusely and his eyes were dancing rapidly behind his eyelids. Ragged breaths brushed past his lips and fin tremors racked his frame.

_Naruto._ "Dobe, wakeup!" Sasuke shook Naruto's shoulders. "Come on Naruto, wakeup!" Sasuke started panicking when Naruto didn't respond. Sasuke found where Naruto's key had fallen out of his hand. He stood up and unlocked Naruto's door and turned back around to pick-up Naruto before entering the apartment. Sasuke quickly slipped his shoes off and walked over to Naruto's couch before laying him down on the cream colored cushions. Sasuke made a clone of himself and sent it to get Kakashi and bring him back to Naruto's place. After his clone left, Sasuke walked into the Kitchen in search of a clean wash-rag. He found one by the sink and hastily ran it under cool water before wringing out the excess water and walking back to Naruto. He knelt down beside Naruto and gently washed the sweat from his face before draping the folded rag over his head and stood back up. He took Naruto's shoes back to the door and started to look around the small apartment.

_I've never been to the dobe's house. It looks like hardly anyone lives here_.

The walls were void of any pictures and the only personal effects Sasuke could see was a small plant on the windowsill and a calendar pinned to the wall by the kitchen. Sasuke walked over to Naruto and sat down on the floor by his head to wait for Kakashi.

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><p>Please Review!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, only the plot of this story.

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

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><p>Kakashi rushed in ten minutes after Sasuke sent out his clone. He didn't even bother taking off his shoes before he dashed over to Naruto.<p>

"What happened?" he asked Sasuke.

"I don't know," Sasuke replied. "I just found him collapsed outside of his apartment. He had a high fever, but it's gone down a little since I first brought him inside."

Kakashi removed the rag from Naruto's forehead and placed his palm against Naruto's skin. After a few seconds he replaced the rag and turned to face Sasuke.

"He seems to be recovering from whatever caused him to collapse," Kakashi said. "I'll stay with him tonight, so go on home for now."

"Alright, goodbye." Sasuke walked over to his shoes and sat down to slip them on, but as he stood up to leave Kakashi called to him.

"Don't forget to meet at the bridge in the morning Sasuke."

"Fine, whatever." Sasuke made sure to close the door before jumping to the roof and heading toward the Uchiha complex.

Kakashi waited until he could no longer see Sasuke on the roof tops and then walked back over to Naruto. He squatted beside the boy and removed his orange jacket and proceeded to lift Naruto's shirt to check the seal on his stomach. The seal was already visible on his skin without any provocation. Kakashi quickly performed the shadow clone jutsu and ordered it to get Sarutobi from the Hokage tower and bring him back to Naruto's apartment.

Sarutobi arrived within the next five minutes and flung the door open as he barged into the apartment. He hurriedly walked over to Naruto and pushed Kakashi out of the way. His hands glowed softly as he checked the seal.

"How long has it been visible?" he asked curtly.

"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess I would say at least an hour." Sarutobi turned to look at Kakashi.

"Well, why was I not informed earlier of this?"

"I just saw it on his skin a short while ago and I contacted you immediately. But, he missed team seven's meeting this morning. So, I have a feeling the seal has been visible from since then, at least," Kakashi quickly answered.

"I wonder what caused it to appear when Naruto isn't using the nine-tailed fox's chakra," the Hokage mused. Kakashi started fidgeting and Sarutobi glared at him. "What do you know that you aren't telling me Kakashi?" Kakashi walked over and sat down on the end of the couch by Naruto's feet.

"Did you read the report from our mission in the Land of Waves?"

"Yes, but what does…"

"Do you remember reading about Naruto's battle with Haku?" Kakashi asked. "The seal was weakened during his fight when he experienced strong emotions after seeing Sasuke attacked. By the time I reached him the nine-tailed fox's chakra had already calmed down. I believed at the time that the seal was fine because the fox's chakra was once again suppressed, but now I don't think that's the case." Kakashi shook his head and leaned back into the couch while waiting for a reaction from the Hokage.

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><p>Please review!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own the plot!

"Talking"

"_Thinking" _

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><p>Sarutobi studied the seal a while longer before talking to Kakashi. "What do you mean the seal isn't fine? It appears to be functioning properly, and Naruto hasn't shown any signs of the fox's chakra since team seven returned from the Land of Waves."<p>

"I'm not quite sure how to describe it," Kakashi sighted. "Just come to the training grounds for team seven tomorrow morning, and you will be able to watch Naruto. I'm not promising anything will happen, but if recent training sessions are anything to go by… just come tomorrow and you'll see." The Hokage agreed to come by the training grounds the next day and turned to leave. That night Kakashi stayed at Naruto's apartment and eventually dosed off on the end of the couch by Naruto's feet.

*~Time Skip~*

Naruto's head was spinning when he woke up the next morning. His whole body was stiff and he felt something pressing onto his legs. He rubbed his eyes and tried to sit up. He was halfway up and then…

"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto screamed. Kakashi bolted upright from his slouched position across Naruto's feet. Naruto jumped off the couch before Kakashi could stop him. Naruto only got a few steps before he started swaying. He quickly steadied himself against the edge of the couch.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "Here take this." Kakashi handed two small pills in a paper packet to him.

"Fine," Naruto grunted. He turned to head towards the kitchen to get some water to take the medicine with. "What the hell are you doing here anyway Kakashi-sensei?" he called over his shoulder.

"You were found collapsed outside of your apartment after you missed the meeting. Don't you remember passing out?"

"Not really, but whatever," Naruto shrugged. "Please leave sensei, I need to get ready."

Kakashi quickly checked Naruto over once just to make sure he was okay. "Fine, but beat the training grounds by nine, we need to make up for yesterday."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Now, please leave." Kakashi left after he watched Naruto swallow the medicine.

Naruto hurriedly boiled some water for ramen and took a shower while he waited for the noodle to soften. I_t's getting worse. Damn it why did they have to find out. Stupid nine-tailed fox. _

He ate and got dressed before checking his weapons pouch and leaving his apartment to head towards the training grounds.

*~At The Bridge~*

"Where is Naruto?" Sakura asked. "Don't tell me he is skipping again today."

"He is already at the training grounds." Kakashi appeared behind Sakura. "I sent him ahead of us, because I need to talk to you two quickly." Sakura glanced at Sasuke before giving her attention to Kakashi. "We are going to have a training session today, but I should warn you the Hokage will be watching. He is coming to observe Naruto, but he won't be out in the open, and Naruto doesn't know that he is coming. So, don't tell him and don't be paranoid if you feel someone watching you. Now let's go."

"Hai!" "Ch."

*~Training Grounds~*

"What took you guys so long?" Naruto hollered.

"Nothing, nothing," Sakura said. "Don't worry about it."

"Alright guys let's get started," Kakashi intervened. "Sakura you are with me and Naruto you're with Sasuke. We will be sparring today." He stared at Naruto and Sasuke before continuing. "That does not mean that we are going to try and kill each other or completely destroy the training grounds."

"That wasn't our fault last time," Naruto whined. "Plus we filled in the holes already." Kakashi glared at him. "Fine," he mumbled, "we won't destroy the training grounds." Sasuke turned and began walking towards the nearest sparring area.

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><p>I know the story is kind of slow, but I'm trying to pick things up. Does anyone have any ideas as to how Naruto should show the fox's chakra without "growing" tails and getting that weird cloak thing?<p>

Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry about the long period in between updates and the short chapter. It will probably be another week before I can get another chapter up. Enjoy!

"Alright, listen up, today I am going to beat you Sasuke," Naruto challenged. Sasuke just got into his fighting stance and glared at Naruto.

"I'll treat you to ramen tonight if you can keep me on the ground for more than five seconds," Sasuke replied coolly.

"You're on!" Naruto charged Sasuke and their sparring match began.

"Come on Sakura, let's go to the boys' sparring area and join the Hokage," Kakashi called.

"Hai, sensei." It only took them a little while to find Sarutobi hidden in some shrubbery at the edge of the forest. He was already intently watching Naruto and Sasuke spar. Kakashi and Sakura knelt down beside him to watch their teammates.

Sasuke was as calm as ever and showed little fatigue, while Naruto was exhausted. His muscles had fine tremors running through them and sweat was pouring down his face. They had been sparring for three hours and Naruto had yet to knock Sasuke to the ground.

_Damn it, if he would just stay still for even a second I would have him. Fine, if he wants to play like that I'll just have to kick it up a notch_. Naruto rose from his fighting stance and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his chakra and slowly mixed it with the fox's chakra. His tremors subsided and he stopped sweating. Sasuke watched him, and prepared for the oncoming attack.

"_This must be it he seems to have a different aura around him now,_" Sarutobi thought. He crawled a little bit closer to the training field to get a better view. So far he had stayed back for safety sake, because the two young boys had been going at it so hard they had completely destroyed the field, again.

Naruto opened his eyes and Sasuke blanched. Naruto's eyes were a clash of swirling hues. Sky blue and crimson red twirled round and round cat-like pupils.

"Scared Sasuke?" Naruto hissed. "You should be. I told you I'm going to beat you today and that ramen is mine." Naruto crouched down and then pounced towards Sasuke. He jumped around Sasuke so fast that Sasuke couldn't keep track of him and he began to panic.

_Damn it, Kakashi. He knew Naruto would do something like this._ Sasuke quickly activated his sharingan and concentrated on Naruto's movements. He dodged just as Naruto slammed his chakra infused fist towards him. Sasuke and Naruto and continued to play their deadly game of catch for a while and then Naruto froze.

"That's it!" Naruto shouted. "Let's see you dodge this." He closed his eyes and quickly formed a few hand seals and then caught Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke knew it had gone to far then. Naruto's eyes were completely crimson and his chakra had gone through the roof. Whatever Naruto was planning Sasuke knew he needed to dodge it at all cost or he was going to be screwed. Naruto released his last hand seal and flung his arms open. A chakra shockwave went out in all directions. It stopped as soon as it reached the trees, but the damage was already done. Naruto had collapsed as soon as the shockwave had been set off. Kakashi had seen what was coming and had jumped in at the last minute to grab Sasuke, while Sarutobi pulled Sakura out of the way. Even though Kakashi was fast Sasuke still caught a glancing blow from the shockwave. He collapsed onto the ground and started shaking as soon as Kakashi let go of him.

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

I haven't updated in a little over two years. Y'all by all rights should be mad. But, I finally finished it! Same disclaimer applies: I do not nor shall ever own Naruto or any of the characters only the plot of my stories.

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><p>Kakashi quickly started to examine Sasuke to see where he had been hit and was pleased to find just a small laceration on his right shoulder. It was disconcerting to see Sasuke shaking on the ground with such a small wound but on closer examination Kakashi noticed that there was a foul chakra embedded in the wound that seemed to radiate malicious intent. The chakra was very familiar and as he turned to look at Naruto he realized where it came from. Naruto was in a crumpled heap in the middle of the blast radius and he was oozing the foul chakra that was in Sasuke's wound.<p>

"Sarutobi," Kakashi called.

Sarutobi came over to Kakashi and knelt down to examine Sasuke. After he finished his examination Sarutobi took out a scroll, ink, and a brush from his shinobi pouch.

"We will have to coax the chakra out of the wound and seal it into the scroll so that Sasuke can heal," Sarutobi explained. He quickly drew a seal that looked like a simpler version of the one on Naruto on the middle of the unrolled scroll. After several hand-signs Sarutobi's fingers glowed pale green as he touched the laceration on Sasuke's right shoulder. As he began to slowly remove his fingers from Sasuke's shoulder and wisp of red chakra followed until it was led to the seal and quickly sucked into the scroll. The seal glowed brightly for a moment before it returned to black ink. Sarutobi put away his scroll and supplies while Kakashi bandaged up Sasuke's shoulder.

"That should take care of his shoulder and the shaking," Sarutobi announced.

"He seems to be doing better already," Kakashi replied. He made sure that Sasuke was laid out on the ground comfortably before turning with Sarutobi and heading for Naruto.

As they approached the men saw that Sakura had made her way through the debris and was standing three feet away from Naruto. Once they reached them, both Kakashi and Sarutobi noticed that Naruto was still unconscious but otherwise unhurt. But, the biggest shock was to find that there was a barrier around Naruto made from the red chakra that blocked them from getting any closer to examine him.

"What's wrong with him sensei?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"He will be fine Sakura," Kakashi reassured her. "Why don't you go and wake Sasuke up, then both of you can head to the hospital for a check-up."

"But-"

"No buts Sakura," Sarutobi interrupted her. "You both need to get checked out after being exposed to that blast. Don't worry about Naruto we will take care of him and he will be fine in no time."

"Hai sensei," Sakura replied. And with that she left to go get Sasuke and head to the hospital.

After the two young shinobi were safely out of hearing distance Kakashi turned to Sarutobi to discuss what needed to be done about the seal.

"Why can't we just seal the chakra in the scroll like you did with Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"That is only a temporary solution when considering how much chakra we would have to seal," Sarutobi replied.

"But, could we keep the chakra sealed in the scroll long enough to repair the damage to the seal that is causing it to leak in the first place?" Kakashi asked.

Sarutobi stopped to ponder the suggested solution to their current predicament and tried to decide if it could be done.

"I am not entirely sure how long we can hold the fox's chakra in the scroll, but we can give it a try," Sarutobi slowly replied. "Wait here and monitor Naruto while I go and retrieve some help. The process of temporarily sealing the chakra and repairing the seal at the same time is going to require a larger amount of chakra than the two of us can muster together."

"Hai."

Sarutobi took off toward the Hokage tower in a whirl of leaves. Kakashi settled down as close to Naruto as the barrier would allow and contemplated the situation.

"How did you get into this mess Naruto?" he mused.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Time Skip*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was well pass noon when Sarutobi returned to find Kakashi staring silently at Naruto in the same place he left them. He walked over and knelt down with a large summoning scroll and unfurled it next to Kakashi. Then he laid down another large blank scroll with the simplified version of Naruto's seal already drawn out.

"I have finished making the preparations needed to repair the seal," Sarutobi stated. "Lord Hiashi will be here shortly to assists us with the process."

Kakashi nodded his head as he clambered to his feet. He knew lord Hiashi had one of the largest supplies of chakra in Konoha and had the control necessary for the delicate process of repairing the seal on Naruto. But, one thing still puzzled Kakashi.

"How do you propose we fix the seal?" Kakashi asked.

"With this," Sarutobi pointed to the scroll. "We will summon the frog that the fourth Hokage used to guard the key to the seal he placed on Naruto as an infant. The key has the dual purpose of locking and unlocking the seal along with an instruction manual of sorts should the seal falter. But, there is a catch. The key can only be used three times before it becomes void. It has already been used once when the seal was placed. We need to be careful, because after we use it there will only be one more time the key can be summoned and used before the seal deteriorates permanently. So, we need to make sure we do it right the first time."

"And that is where I come in," Hiashi called as he walked beside Sarutobi. "I have studied seals similar to Naruto's when I was researching the seal used on the branch family. I should be able to repair the seal while Sarutobi temporarily seals the chakra in the scroll."

"What do I need to do then?" Kakashi asked.

"Funnel your chakra into Hiashi and I while we perform our task so that we will have enough power to complete them. We will be able to mix our chakras and boost the power of our jutsu," Sarutobi explained.

"Hai," Kakashi replied.

Once their task had been decided Hiashi summoned the frog with the scroll and released the key that it held. While the key was being absorbed by Hiashi, Sarutobi concentrated on the chakra barrier surrounding Naruto and forced it into the scroll. Once the barrier was removed Hiashi ran through a string of hand-signs before activating his byakugan and slamming his palm into Naruto's stomach over his seal. All three shinobi were already sweating under the strain of their jutsu. As the jutsu took effect, the seal on Naruto's stomach slowly revealed itself as if it were being rewritten in ink as they watched. Once the seal was complete Naruto's entire body briefly glowed a soft blue before Hiashi released his jutsu and the seal key was returned to its frog guardian. Once Hiashi backed away from Naruto and Kakashi stopped boosting his chakra, Sarutobi released the scroll. All at once a large red stream of foul chakra flew from the scroll and rushed back to Naruto. The chakra swirled like a miniature cyclone as it was absorbed into the center of Naruto's seal. The three older shinobi waited for everything to calm down before the examined Naruto.

The seal had faded back beneath tanned skin as the red chakra was completely absorbed. Naruto seemed to be coming around and the three watched as sky blue eyes slowly fluttered open.

"What happened?" Naruto croaked.

Kakashi chuckled quietly at how unaffected Naruto seemed by what had just recently happened.

"We had to fix the seal on the fox's chakra, Naruto," Sarutobi quietly replied. "You gave us all quiet a scare with the shockwave you sent out earlier."

"How do you feel?" Hiashi asked.

Naruto slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position with the help of Kakashi and took an inventory of his body. Nothing seemed out of place except for slight warmth to his stomach. He no longer felt weak and feverish, in fact he felt stronger than ever.

"I feel fine," Naruto answered after a minute.

"That's great to hear," Kakashi retorted. "But you are still going to the hospital to get check out with your other two teammates after the ordeal you just went through."

"Ah man," Naruto mumbled. "Do I really have to go?"  
>"Yes," Sarutobi ordered, "Now go on to the hospital, there are two people waiting to see you."<p>

"Fine," Naruto grumbled as he made his way toward the hospital.

"I'm glad we were able to fix the seal for now," Sarutobi began. "But we should begin focusing on training Naruto to wield the fox's chakra and control it so that should the problem arise again we will be more prepared."

"I will take him under my wing and train him to use the chakra and how to understand the seal," Hiashi offered.

"Thank you," Kakashi replied. "But for now let's just let him rest a while first."

THE END

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